Preliminary Course.
Plant and crop Models
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Introduction
- Models are numerous in agronomy and the related plant and crop sciences.
Plant and crop models
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This course introduces plant and crop model approaches.
- Process-based models, derived from agronomy, modelling plant production at stand level
- Structural plant models, usually offering 3D representations, defined at individual plant level
- Functional structural plant models, trying to combine plant production and plant structure modelling, also defined at individual plant level
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General considerations about models are first listed,
leading to a distinction between descriptive models and causal ones.
The focus here is on causal models.
The principles of various approaches are then shortly introduced, with their pro and cons:
These approaches reflect a wide range of models developed in the communities interested in plant growth models, from agronomy and forestry, up to entertainment.
Course Objectives
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The aim of this course is to enable students to:
- Understand the typology of models used in agronomy
- Understand the overall principles of process-based, structural and FSPM models
- Weigh up the pros and cons of the different model approaches
- Choose the right kind of model for a given problem.